The region has survived numerous energy-related booms and busts.  The most recent oil boom began near Gillette in 1973 and went bust in the early 1980's.  Now the excitement is all about gas -- coalbed methane gas that is.  The energy dollars currently sustaining the region come from the natural gas development and the enormous coal mines located southeast of Gillette.

These mines operate on an awe-inspiring scale, with machines so huge they are hard to comprehend.  Monster draglines dig coal with buckets big enough to fill seven or eight normal dump trucks; mining trucks have tires eleven feet tall and haul enough coal to fill several railroad cars.  Coal trains are typically one hundred cars long, and travel the longest new stretch of railroad built in the U.S. since the end of the railroad building heyday.

If you like big machinery, stop in -- many of the coal mines give tours.